A few weekends ago, new friends (Michi and Mac) from the gym invited us to go sweet potato hoeing. I’m curious to know what a Japanese farm looks like. On a Saturday morning, we meet Michi at the gym parking lot, who drives us to Mac’s farm. Expecting to be

Seafood is a surprisingly affordable product in grocery stores, and there’s a great variety available to us here. Not all attempts at cooking have been what I’d call a success, but it’s a fun experience nonetheless. We’ve learned to cook seafood with a hot pot or nabe, as it is

Oita is lush with various fruits, and one, in particular, is grapes. A 30-minute drive from Usa takes us to Ajimu (安心院町, Ajimu-machi), an area famous for grape growing and award-winning wineries. Within this district is the Ajimu Grape Orchard and Cafe (安心院農園(果樹園カフェ歩くように), a grape-growing house that we (myself and other

Hello, and welcome to my first blog post! After months of preparation, packing our belongings, and saying our goodbyes, we finally arrived in the small town of Usa City in Oita Prefecture. I’ll be living with my partner, Jesse, who will start work as an English Teacher at the beginning